Tablet sales up 26%, Apple's iPad takes 95% of market

With little competition in the market thus far, Apple's iPad unsurprisingly has a dominating share of all tablet sales, and has also helped to drive the demand for tablets up by 26 percent last quarter.

A total of 4.4 million tablets in total were sold in the September quarter, according to a report from research firm Strategy Analytics issued on Tuesday. Apple announced it sold 4.19 million iPads in the last quarter, representing the lion's share of the market.

Last quarter's total tablet sales were up 26 percent from the previous three-month frame, when total sales amounted to 3.5 million. Those sales, too, were driven by the launch of the iPad in April.

"The tablet wars are up and running," Strategy Analytics analyst Neil Mawston reportedly said. "Apple has quickly leveraged its famous brand, extensive retail presence and user-friendly design to develop the tablet segment into a multi-billion-dollar global business."

Tablet-style devices running Google's Android mobile operating system represented just 2.3 percent of the total market in the third quarter. That share is expected to rise as devices like the Samsung Galaxy Tab come to market this fall.

Still, with its 2.3 percent, Android was the second-largest tablet platform on the market, beating Microsoft's Windows platform, which has been a part of stylus-based tablets for years.

In his company's most recent earnings report, Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs highlighted the growth potential for the iPad in a market that is in its infancy. He and other executives noted they have been surprised, in particular, at how fast the iPad has been adopted in the corporate sector.

"We've got a tiger by the tail here, and this is a new model of computer which we've already got tens of millions of people trained on with the iPhone," Jobs said. "And that lends itself to lots of different aspects of life, both personal and business."